2025 PWHL Draft


The 2025 PWHL Draft was the third annual draft in Professional Women's Hockey League history, and took place on June 24, 2025, at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Kristýna Kaltounková was selected first overall by the New York Sirens.

Eligibility

The declaration period for the draft opened on March 1, 2024, and closed on May 8. Undrafted players will become free agents; players must declare for the draft to reach free agency. Selected players may re-enter the draft if they are not signed to their draft club after two years. No player may declare for more than two drafts. Players ineligible to play in the 2025–26 season are not eligible to be selected.
On May 15, 2025, the PWHL released the full list of eligible players. In total, 199 eligible players declared for the draft, of which 117 were forwards, 56 were defenders, and 26 were goaltenders.

Top prospects

Top skaters

RankingPlayerSchool/club team
1Kristýna Kaltounková Colgate
2Haley Winn Clarkson
3Casey O'Brien Wisconsin
4Nicole Gosling Clarkson
5Natálie Mlýnková Minnesota
6Rory Guilday Cornell
7Michelle Karvinen Frölunda HC
8Anne Cherkowski Clarkson
9Kendall Cooper Quinnipiac
10Jenna Buglioni Ohio State

Top goaltenders

RankingPlayerSchool/club team
1Sanni AholaSt. Cloud State
2Hannah MurphyColgate
3Ena NystrømBrynäs IF

Expansion

The PWHL established two new teams for the 2025–26 season, the Seattle Torrent and Vancouver Goldeneyes. In order to help these new teams fill their rosters, the league granted them an exclusive signing window from June 4–8, and held an expansion draft on June 9, 2025.

Protected lists and exclusive signing window

Before 5:00 pm on June 3, each current team submitted the names of three current players under contract for next season to the league to be protected from signing by the expansion teams. After a current team lost two players, they were then allowed to protect a fourth player. Once the protected lists were submitted, the Seattle and Vancouver teams had a five-day exclusive window, from June 4 through June 8, to sign up to five players each. Any player who was either unprotected, or on an expiring contract, could be signed by either expansion team.

Protected players

Signed players

Expansion draft

On June 9, the two expansion teams drafted at least seven additional players from the current PWHL teams, until they reached a 12-player roster. If one of the expansion teams signed fewer than five players during the exclusive signing window, they would receive more than seven picks in the expansion draft. On June 6, 2025, the Seattle Torrent announced that they had come to agreement with New York Sirens goaltender Corinne Schroeder, ensuring that both teams picked the minimum number of players in the expansion draft.
Brooke McQuigge, Gabby Rosenthal, and Anna Wilgren are restricted free agents with their rights controlled by Vancouver or Seattle; they will technically not be members of those teams until they sign a contract in free agency.
NumberPlayerPositionPWHL teamTeam drafted from
1Ashton BellDVancouver GoldeneyesOttawa Charge
2Aneta TejralováDSeattle TorrentOttawa Charge
3Hannah BilkaFSeattle TorrentBoston Fleet
4Brooke McQuiggeFVancouver GoldeneyesMinnesota Frost
5Abigail BoreenFVancouver GoldeneyesMontreal Victoire
6Jessie EldridgeFSeattle TorrentNew York Sirens
7Julia GoslingFSeattle TorrentToronto Sceptres
8Izzy DanielFVancouver GoldeneyesToronto Sceptres
9Gabby RosenthalFVancouver GoldeneyesNew York Sirens
10Anna WilgrenDSeattle TorrentMontreal Victoire
11Megan CarterDSeattle TorrentToronto Sceptres
12Denisa KřížováFVancouver GoldeneyesMinnesota Frost
13Sydney BardDVancouver GoldeneyesBoston Fleet
14Emily BrownDSeattle TorrentBoston Fleet

Format

The eight teams will pick in each of six rounds for a total of 48 selections. The top selection in the draft was determined by the Gold Plan, where standings points accumulated by a team that can no longer make the playoffs count as draft order points, and the team with the most draft order points received the first overall selection. On June 13, the PWHL announced the order that all teams would pick for all six rounds of the draft.

Selections by round

Round one

Round two

Round three

Round four

Round five

Round six

Trade notes